exhibition of cultural institute with major brands of interior design. there's also very nice thing that we're working on. a famous architect has designed the california academy of sciences, the wonderful building in golden gate park. he has also designed similar museum in italy in my city and the museum is almost finished there, and our ambition is to have him come over and celebrate at the academy, and also talk to young architects about the most sustainable ways to build this century. other questions? if there is no other question i

thank you so much. thank our distinguished guest for being here with us and i hope to have a good time with you guys at the italian cultural institute. thank you. [applause] the san francisco unified district for january 8, is now called to order, please take the roll please. >> thank you commissioner. mrs. fewer. >> here. >> mr. hany. >> here. >> mrs. maufas. >> here. >> mrs. mendoza. >> here. >> dr. murase. >> here.

>> mrs. -- ms. ly. >> ms. wong. >> join me in the pledge of allegiance if you like. >> mr. superintendent. >> thank you, vice president norton. good evening, everyone. i would like to announce that commissioners, wynn and norton and hany were sworn into office for four year terms by representatives and attorney general. the swearing-in ceremony took place last friday at tenderloin community school.

a hearty congratulations, and welcome to new commissioner haney and welcome back to commissioners fewer, wynn and nort norton. >> thank you, mr. superintendent. now we will begin this evening as we do on the first meeting of every year with a special order of business, as stipulated in series 9000, the board will read out their rules and procedures, and may i hear motions on this item. >> so moved. >> second. >> any speakers? >> no. >> is there any comments or questions on the rules of procedure? yes, commissioner wynn. >> i wanted to point out that the board, the rules committee

and the board of education it remains in the process of re-examining all of our policies. on which the rules of board is one section. that's why the format looks change. and not throughout here, and we are still in the process of doing that, and just to reiterate there are sections that we assigned to various committees not the rules committee. and the grounds commission and the curriculum section to the curriculum committee, etc.. and we hope to complete that this year. >> thank you, any other comments from the board? roll call. >> ly. >> yes. >> wong. >> yes. >> fewer. >> yes. >> haney. >> yes. >> mendoza.

>> yes. dr. murase. >> aye. >> norton. >> aye. >> wynns. >> seven ayes. >> now we proceed to the annual election of officers for the board of education. as a reminder to the board and public, this election is by voice vote. and we do not need a second, and it's permisable for a member to vote for themselves. good to know. board members you will vote by name. if only one nomination, or more than you vote by aye or nay. i declare that the floor is open for the nomination of president for board 2013. >> i would like to nominate our current vice president, rachel

norton. >> any further? if no more, i declare the nomination closed. >> commissioner norton, i would like to move that we elect commissioner norton by acclimation. that needs a second. >> second. >> any other discussion? okay, we are good. thank you very much. [applause] i have the pleasure to announce that i have been elected president of the board. [laughter] i am now declaring nominations open for the office of vice president of the board of education for the year of 2013. any nominations? commissioner mendoza. >> it would be my honor to nominate sandra fewer. >> i think we will close the

nominations there, what do you think? would we like to make the same, i will hear the same motion for acclimation. >> second. >> congratulations. [applause] >> i have the pleasure of announcing that commissioner sandra fewer has been elected vice president of the board of education. congratulation. and now we will do the ceremonial changing of the seats. while waiting, do tu -- do you

want to say something about the information? we will talk about ta --- that later. we have approval of the minutes, none tonight and we have the superintendent's thoughts for the evening, superintendent caranza. >> thank you, and to the parent and student and all of our colleagues, teachers, paraprofessionals, all of our support staff and administrators. welcome back, happy new year, 2013 is well underway. i would like to welcome you back to what i know is a successful spring this year. and i hope you enjoyed your break. you got your rest, because we will need it. we have a lot of work ahead of us. and exciting work nonetheless. and congratulations to president

norton and vice president fewer. as i share other comments, i want to remind us of a tragic event that happened at the close of the last semester. we were shocked and saddened by the tragedy that took the lives at sandy hook elementary school. we want to give our most sincere condolences to our colleagues and friends and fellow americans in connecticut. but we are very fortunate in san francisco, as we have had an opportunity to reflect with the established partnerships we have in this city. not only with the city of san francisco and the mayor's office. but the police department. the department of public health. our community-based organizations. and all the multitudes of others in this community that work with us arm in arm to provide services to our students and

community. we strive to bring safety to our workplaces. and safety to our schools. so that our students can thrive. and our educators can teach. we are fortunate to have trained professionals on our campuses. including social workers and nurses and wellness services. and ladies and gentlemen, if not for the largess of the san francisco voting community, we would not be able to do this. we want to thank you for the voting of our schools. when you go to the ballot box and vote for the parcel tax and bonds, this is what you vote for. the systems that keep people safe. and we want to thank you. and we have wellness centers and as you know it takes a village. we will stand with those in our community and across the great state of california. to ensure that students have safe places to learn and thrive

and adults have great place to work. as you know i had the honor last friday to serve as the master of ceremonies of our board commissioners, and it was great to see family and friends and supporters to come out to support our board of seeducatio. we look forward to have a productive year for with all of you. and i want to thank ester costo with the work she did organizing. and the principal, julie salaha, i think it was a wonderful evening. ladies and gentlemen, tonight is a revolution, it's a new time. all of us have a tray. because it's revolution time in san francisco unified.

and what people have in front of them is tomorrow's lunch for everyone in san francisco. and i have to tell you what the lunch is going to be. i am excited about this. i am excited about food often. but in front of us we have spaghetti with meat balls, and this is all natural beef meat balls, and a fresh tomato sauce and steamed butternut squash and fresh fruit and whole grain crisps. i will ask everyone to partake of the meal. and i want to say a few words, we think about what goes in to make a successful school. kids that are hungry in schools are not prepared to learn. so the time is here, and our students when they returned to school yesterday. they were served fresh -- not

frozen, school lunches. in december the board approved a new meal contract and they are a phenomenal partner with us, and they are nutrition rich for the students. that promotes good eating habits and provides access to high-quality food. and this will fuel our academic excellence. we look forward, and i look forward to feedback from our school communities. and it's been, interesting, ladies and gentlemen, of the hundreds of e-mails i receive on a daily basis. i want share a few comments from yesterday and today. from brett hart, teachers e-mailed me and said they never had seen but one mail on the shared table. this is amazing, exclamation

point. from lowell high school they said, the food was great. and tenderloin elementary school, the hot dogs are great. can i get another one. and one who missed school regularly and on the spot ate her first school lunch ever. we had two teachers from everett middle school that were excited to try the food lunch for the first time, their response, keep it up. and we hope to reform in the public school and increase the number of students that eat school meals. we know that students who are fed and not hungry can be successful. we want to provide to the teachers and paraprofessionals

and to get the word out that sfusd meals are fresh and tasty. and with that, i would like to say bon apetite. >> thank you, we have item c. superintendent. >> thank you, we would like to call first to the microphone. we would like to recognize alice fong yu as being a national blue ribbon recipient. as you know the blue ribbon -- [applause]

alice fong yu joins a very select group of schools nationally to be recognized as national blue ribbon schools. alice fong yu in the san francisco school district has the distinction of being the first chinese emergent school in the nation, and in san francisco. and here is their fabulous leader, principal seto, my first language is spanish. i apologize, to share a few words. and i understand that we have some of our constituents from alice fong yu as well. >> well, thank you. superintendent carranza.

president norton. vice president fewer. commissioners. i am honored to receive this recognition on behalf of the parents, the students and the staff at alice fong yu. at this time i would like to share my time with the school council, chair person, and some of my student leaders. [applause] >> good evening, i am lillian fong and i chair this school. and i am here with the community leaders to share blue ribbon. in addition to being exemified as a high-providing school,

through emersion education afy students have the unique opportunity to acquire education in cantonese and mandarin. particularly through the chinese exchange program. in addition to high excellence led by faculty and engaged parent and body, and this includes full after-class programs and fine arts, and after-school tutoring and multidance groups. we would like to thank superintendent carranza and board members of education to your continued support to afy. we have an invitation to give to the board members and now our students will tell you why they love afy. >> i would make a quick

announcement, on march 2, from 3-6 p.m., we will have a big party at alice fong yu school, and you are all invited. we will have jazz and hors d'oeuvres and say, yay, we did a great job in 2012. >> [speaking foreign language]

[applause] >> good evening, my name is faith peterson bailey, i attend alice fong yu and i am the chief of staff. i want to thank you for giving my school a blue ribbon award. and giving my principal a bell award. during school time i like learning math and science, because my teacher uses chinese to explain. if the teachers didn't teach my cousins and my sisters and me how to speak chinese, we wouldn't be able to speak in restaurants. once again, thank you. [applause]

[speaking foreign language] >> good evening, everyone, i am winnie chi, i am the body president of alice fong yu, this

is like a second home to me. the teachers and my friends support me and they make me feel special. and also staff members and teachers guarantee that we have a safe environment to learn. and they make us feel comfortable and safe to share our feelings. i enjoy math and science, because the teachers teach us in chinese. and they teach us step by step. i am proud to be a student at alice fong yu. thank you. [speaking foreign language]

[applause] >> hello, everyone, i am maze. i a seventh grader at alice fong yu, and i am peer mediator. afy is an amazing school. the chinese i learned there has been helpful in so many situations. if not for me being able to speak chinese, i would not be able to communicate with people that can only speak chinese. and it will definitely help me in the later years. i am so happy that alice fong yu has the national blue ribbon award. it definitely deserves it. [applause]

[speaking chinese] [applause] >> good evening, i am may, i was born in raised here in san francisco, and i live in bay-view hunter's point. i am an eighth grader attending ali alice fong yu, we are given a great experience to learn

chinese. in my grade we have seven subjects, math, social studies and candnies -- cantonese and mandarin. the help and support i get from the teacher and staff. when i have problems with homework or class work or projects i don't hesitate ask for help. 90% of the time my teachers help me, and the other time is when they are absent that day. i think that my school has given you a jump start with my future, helping with social skills and diversity and many other factors in life. all of my friends and i went to great high schools. and after i checked, they are doing well. i want to continue to pursue my career in chinese. thank you to the help of alice

fong yu and the teachers, thank you. [applause] [speaking chinese]

>> ladies and gentlemen, good evening, i am victoiar young. an eighth grade student at afy, and current body president. i am glad to be here on behalf the students at the school. i want you to know that afy is a great school. under the leadership of the staff and teachers, everyone student has an opportunity to learn and meet new friends. and it's because of the dedication that our school received the blue ribbon award. and i want to say thanks and to the most talented principal in our district. thank you. [applause]

>> what a wonderful transition, speaking of the very talented principal seto along with alice fong yu being selected and szeto received an award due to their process, and we would like to present two certificates to you. on behalf of the board of education and the san francisco unified school district. [applause]

>> i talked to ester this morning, and i promise i will not take too long. but i will first share my time with two of my outstanding staff members. mrs. jeanna chow and mr. taylor. >> hi, i am jena chou, and i am a kindergarten teacher. i would like to share a few quick reflections. i remember when alice fong yu didn't have enough student and we had to sell the program. and now we don't have to sell the program, in fact we are all sold out. i remember when students went to chinatown to practice the skills and the culture. and now students travelo